Richardson board grants special exception for 8-foot fence at 1911 Green Haven Drive

The City of Richardson Zoning Board of Adjustment on the evening of the meeting approved a special exception to allow an 8-foot wooden fence in the front yard at 1911 Green Haven Drive, the board announced after a staff presentation, applicant testimony and a brief board discussion.

Senior Planner Derica Peters told the board the corner lot is in the R1100M residential zoning district, is approximately 0.2 acres and was developed with a 2,800-square-foot, two-story house. Peters described traffic-engineer diagrams showing the proposed fence location, saying the fence would be set back from the back of the curb on Green Haven and would not fall within the required intersection visibility triangle. Peters said staff reviewed applicable codes and "staff recommends approval of the requested exception." She also reported a petition opposing the request signed by representatives of 14 nearby properties; those opponents raised safety concerns about the corner and questioned whether the fence would change the neighborhood's open streetscape.

Applicant Tim Vow, who said he purchased the property four months ago and gave the address as 1911 Green Haven Drive, said he and his family have five children and want to secure a larger yard for safety and privacy. "We have 5 children... we want to, you know, cover better privacy and safety, for the kids to play there," Vow said. He added the proposal would not include a vehicular gate across the driveway and noted several neighboring properties with similar side-yard/front-yard fences.

Board member Phil Thames asked staff whether the packet included the properties the applicant cited as precedent; Peters confirmed the examples listed in the staff materials had comparable two front-building-line conditions. After discussion, Thames moved that the board find the public convenience and welfare would be substantially served and neighboring property uses would not be substantially injured and moved to grant the special exception limited to the specifics presented in the applicant's materials. The motion was seconded by Mohammed Hafeez. The board voted by voice and the presiding officer announced the motion carried unanimously.

The request was considered under Chapter 6, Article 4 of the City of Richardson Code of Ordinances (fence regulations). The board closed the public hearing, granted the special exception as moved, and adjourned the meeting at 6:48 p.m.

Notes: The staff report corrected a zoning designation to R1100M during the presentation. A petition from 14 nearby-property representatives was entered in opposition, citing safety, a cited out-of-jurisdiction case and neighborhood-character concerns. The transcript records variations in spellings of some names (e.g., "Hafiz" in parts of the record); the board assigned alternate Mohammed Hafeez to vote on this item earlier in the meeting.